Railway mower



Patented Apr. 15, 1930 i N UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ERNEST SACK, OFWAVERLY, IOWA RAILWAY MoWEn Application led December 1, 1927. Serial No.237,037.

My invention relates to improvements in tion of the frames 11 and 1 asshown. Lon` railway mowers, and the object of my imgitudinal bars 16, 17and 18 are end-conprovements is to furnish a self-propelled denected toand across said arched intermediviceof this class, equipped with alaterally ately located bars 15.

6 adjustable carriage supporting an upward- A sprocket-wheel 10 issecured upon the 55 1y swinging sickle, whereby a plurality of drivingshaft 6 and has a rearwardly directswaths may be cut alongside a railwaytrack ed clutch-liub 9 with which mates teeth on in succession and uponsloping surfaces. a slidable non-rotatably splined clutch-sleeve Thisobject I have accomplished by the 8 which is annularly grooved to seat ater- 10 means which are hereinafter described and minal fork on apivoted arm mounted on anV 60 claimed and which are illustrated in theac end of a hand-lever 20 which has a `manually companying drawing,which is a top plan of controlled detent engageable with teeth of myimproved railway mower, parts being a rack-sector 19 fixed on the bar17, the lever broken away. being pivoted on the sector, and thus being*My invention isnot restricted to the preoperable to throw theclutch-sleeve in or out 65 cise 'construction and arrangement of partsAof engagement with said clutcli-hub. `A herein shown and described, norto the varisprocket-chain 21 is positioned between the ous detailsthereof, as the same may be modibars 11 longitudinally and engaged aboutthe lied` or rearranged in various particulars sprocket-wheel 10. Itsleftliand end is car- 2 withoutfdeparting from the spirit and scope riedaround an idler sprocket 22 which is 70 of my invention, one practicalembodiment journaled in a forked member 23 whose stem of which has beenherein illustrated and de is terminally threaded and seated inV anaperscribed without attempting to show all of the tured block or bearingelement on the arched various forms and modifications in which my bar 13and supplied with an adjusting nut invention might beembodied. 24 totake up slack in the chain, The oppo- 75 My device includes a chassis orframe 1 site end of the chain 21 is passed around a similar to that of apassenger car, but may sprocket-wheel 25 Xed on a counter-shaft bedi'erently shaped as desired, This elmewhose ends are rotatable inbearings on short sis has a pair of spaced side bars supported bars 45connecting thespaced bars 44 and 14 in front on flanged ear Wheels 2,mounted to which cross the right-handend of the frame 30 be dirigibleand to be governed by a hand- 11. An idler 46V is rotatably mounted in awheel for steering. The rear wheels 3 are bearing-100x011 the bar16-over the upperA also of the flanged type to roll along the railsreach 0f the Chain 21 to bear against and 4, and the forward and rearends of the frame m1115611 it 1 are rigidly Connected by the usualarched The 1111111813131 (161101365 a, SCllS-bal having 85 members asused in a car. An internal coina reciprocable sickle device of awell-known bustion engine 5 is mounted in the front part type mountedupon it and has the usual end of the chassis and drives a rotary shaft 6ShOeS at at 29. The scklellas at the left a which by means of the usualdiderential gearbar 27 rigidly connected thereto in alinement ingrotates the rear wheels 3. and having a crank-pin connection with a Aseat 7 is provided nearl the'engine 5 for crankpin on a disk-wheel 26fixed on an end the convenience of a driver7 another man of thecounter-shaft above referred to. Dibeiiig required to operate the mowingappaverging arms 28 are fixed on the shoe 29 and ratus mounted upon saidChassis, have pivotal or hinging connections termi- The numeral 11denotes an elongated 01- nally with fixed pintles 43 on the end of theoblong frame having at opposite ends arched limle 11 at flOIlt and rear.and rigid connecting members 13 and 14 re- The Sickle-bar 31 is swung upor down by spectively. Other arched members 15 are following describedmeans. The numeral 34 fastened rigidly across the bars 12 of framedenotes an arm swingingly mounted upon the 0 1 a little outside of theframe 11 in the posiarch member 14, the latter having a link 33 andcable connection 32 to a short erect arm 30 fixed on the shoe 29. Acable 35 is end connected to the member 14 and has its other endconnected to and to be wound upon a drum-shaft 37 which is rotatablymounted in bearings on the bars 12. The shaft 37 has at the. rear a handcrank 41 andl a ratchet wheel 47 thereon, the latter' engageable by agravity controlled pawl. A cable 39 is end connected to the front end,of the shoe 29, thence passed forwardly oblique-ly about a sheave L10on the forward right hand corner of the frame 1, thence rearwardly andabout a sheave on said frame and then to the left and end-connected to apulley 38 on the shaft 37 to be wound thereon. A third cable 42 is endconnected to the arched member 13 and also end connected to the shaft 37to be wound thereon.

The operator standing on the frame platform 11 may control the to andfro lateral movements of thevframe 11 byfrotatingr the crank 41 with theshaft 37 to wind the cables 35 and 42 reversely thereon, and thus theframe may be projected tothe left from the position shown or after acuttingof a parallel outer swath. The sickle-bar 31 may be swinginglycontrolled by the arm or lever 34, the arm being left loose to let theshoes 29 ride upon the ground when mowing, or the arm 34 may be swung toerect the sickle-bar to clear whistle-posts in the way. The loose- 1yswinging sickle-bar-may react to avoid stones or small obstacles in theway by swinging a little over them upwardly.

The cable 39 cooperates with the cable 35 in the propelling of the frame11 or returning of the same, and also in taking up side draft thrust,and the mounting of the frame 11 is such as also to almost entirelyeliminate side draft thereon.

When parallel swaths have been cut alongside the rails 4 on one side ofthe right of way, and the chassis has been reversed in direction at theend of its run, the other side of the right of way may be similarlymowed over. The arm 34 may be completely-swung over to the left,erecting the sickle-bar 31 when not in use, and the arm then sprung intoa hook 3G on the right-hand bar 15.

The lever 20 is used in the usual way in clutching the sleeve 8 to thehub of the sprocket-wheel 10 incausing rotation of the Wheel andmovement of the chain 21 in moving the frame 11 laterally to the right,the shfaft 37 being used in returning it to the 1e Having described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by letters patent,is:

1. In combination, a wheeled chassis, mechanism mounted thereon forpropelling it, an elongated frame movable across and upon said chassisto different positions of lateral adjustment, a sickle-device mountedterminally upon said frame to be swung vertically, means for actuatingthe sickle of said device disconnectibly operatively connected to saidpropelling mechanism, a cable connected to said sickle-device foreliminating side draft thereon, and a winding-drum on said frame uponwhich the cable is windable..

2. In combination, a wheeled self-propelled chassis, a hingedlyconnected sickledevice and transversely mounted frame support therefor,the frame being mounted upon said' chassis for lateral adjustmentsthereon to permit the sickleY device to be projected laterally beyondthe chassis to cut swaths at different distances therefrom, and manuallyoperable means for supporting movably the sickle-device relatively tosaid chassis to. eliminate side draft thereon, consisting; of awinding-drum on the frame, an idler pulley in advance of thesickle-device on thev for-l ward part of the frame, and a cable windableupon said drum, reevedv upon said pulley and' end connected to theforward part of the sickle-device.`

3. In combination, a wheeled chassis, a'.

prime motor mounted thereon, an elongated frame movable acrossthe-chassis oppositely,

a sickle-device mounted upon an* end of the frame to swing vertically,disconnectible means for actuating tlie-sickle-device driven by theprime motor, means connected to said' frame including a manuallyoperable device for shifting it laterally oppositely, disconnectibleconnecting means between the-primemotor and wheels of the chassis forrotating the wheels, a winding-drum on the frame, a`

cable connected to the-sickle-device to prevent side-draft thereon, saidcable being windable upon said drum, another cable windable on said drumand connected to the sickle carrying end of the chassis, and a thirdcable wound reversely on said drum and end-connected to the opposite endof the chassis.

4a. In combination, a wheeled chassis, a prime motor mounted there'onvand? disconnectibly connected to wheels-of the chassis, an elongatedframe mounted upon the chassis to shift across it laterallyoppositely,.a sickledevice mounted upon' one end of the frame' ERNESTSACK.

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